Man accused of ramming car, killing his dad

July 11, 2006|By Carolyn Rusin, Special to the Tribune. Freelance reporter Brian Cox contributed to this report.

A Des Plaines man was charged with two counts of first-degree murder Monday after he plowed his sport-utility vehicle into his father's car, sending it airborne and killing his dad instantly, authorities said.

Ravi Kumar, 28, of the 1000 block of Carlow Drive, is scheduled for a bond hearing Tuesday in the Skokie courthouse to face charges in the death of Rajinder Kumar, 54, authorities said.

"[Ravi Kumar] runs out of the house wearing only his underwear, gets into his SUV and goes after his dad. He hits the car so hard it goes flying across the street about 75 feet away," said Des Plaines Police Chief Jim Prandini. "Firefighters were peeling away the roof [of the car] when I got there."

Rajinder Kumar was found dead around 1 a.m. Sunday pinned in the driver's seat of his car about a block and a half from the house he shared with his wife, son and daughter-in-law. Nearby was Ravi Kumar's empty SUV, Prandini said.

Around that time, police got another call about a domestic situation at the Kumar residence in which Ravi Kumar and his wife were quarreling. Witnesses told police that Ravi Kumar struck his wife, Prandini said. Ravi Kumar was arrested at the house.

Ravi Kumar's wife told police that before her husband chased after his father, he punched a hole in his dad's bedroom door and began choking him in bed. Ravi Kumar's mother, who is employed by a hospital in Chicago, was working at the time, said Prandini, adding that Rajinder Kumar also worked in the medical field.

After his son choked him, Rajinder Kumar drove south to a cul-de-sac on Carlow where moments later his son came barreling down the street in his SUV and broadsided the car, Prandini said.

The collision knocked the car into the air, Prandini said. Police did not know how fast the SUV was going. The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled that Rajinder Kumar's death was a homicide.

Prandini said he didn't know the nature of the quarrel. He did say Rajinder Kumar had a recent violent encounter with his son. On April 24, Rajinder Kumar had a swollen eye and bloody nose after his son struck him at the house, Prandini said.

"We had to Taser him three times to get him to calm down. He was pretty violent at the scene," Prandini said.

Ravi Kumar, who is unemployed, was charged at that time with domestic battery, aggravated assault to a peace officer and resisting arrest, authorities said. He pleaded guilty June 22 to aggravated assault and received a year of supervision. He also was fined $205 and ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling, and the other two misdemeanors were dropped, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.